Perfumer's Organ

Are there any perfumers out there who can help me put together a small perfumer's organ of my own?

I am not actually planning on making my own scents, but I do want a collection of decent essential oils. The aromatherapy oils that I've found seem pretty hokey, and plus they usually are blended in some obscene combination with roses or coconuts.

I would like to have a baseline sample for many (most) of the notes used in quality frags. This would include vetiver, verbena, ambergris, amber, myrrh, neroli, lavendar, different woods, different spices, a few flowers, different musks, a few synthetic notes, tonka, etc, etc.

I only need very small amounts of each. Does anyone know of companies who cater to this sort of hobby (as opposed to the aromatherapy stuff)?

Re: Perfumer's Organ

Hi,
I'm curious too. Are perfumery oils blended differently than aromatherapy essential oils? Anytime I've tried an aromatherapy essential oil (on my skin, paper, etc.) after the initial scent dissipates, I smell an oily smell leftover, which can get rancid too. I never get that in commercial fragrances even with natural ingredients or simple compositions. Is there a specific ingredient that prevents that? How does that work?
Thank you

Re: Perfumer's Organ

Originally Posted by Renaissance Man

Hi,
I'm curious too. Are perfumery oils blended differently than aromatherapy essential oils? Anytime I've tried an aromatherapy essential oil (on my skin, paper, etc.) after the initial scent dissipates, I smell an oily smell leftover, which can get rancid too. I never get that in commercial fragrances even with natural ingredients or simple compositions. Is there a specific ingredient that prevents that? How does that work?
Thank you

It could be the proportion, that's why you have to know your top, middle and base notes, 'a muddy fragrance is often the result of a problem with the base notes. Sometimes it is a question of adjusting the ratio of top, middle and base' says the book...

'The ratio of base to middle to top is approximately 40:30:40'

see you got me working extra hours today

Update!

I think it is the quality not the type of oil that is relevant in your case,

from Essence&amp;Alchemy by M. Aftel

&quot;Essential oils are often adulterated, and it is important that the company you purcahse it from warrants their purity.To test the purity of an essential oil, put a drop of it on a piece of white paper. Let it dry at room temperature. if it is pure, the spot will completely evaporate. if the oil is adulterated, a greasy or translucent spot will be left on the paper. Sometimes an old but pure oil will leave a transparent stain around the rim of the spot, which is caused by resin that is formed by the absorption of oxygen and remains dissolved in the oil, but the center should be clear&quot;

Re: Perfumer's Organ

Originally Posted by perfectscent

[quote author=Renaissance Man link=1144288586/0#6 date=1144327357]Hi,
I'm curious too. Are perfumery oils blended differently than aromatherapy essential oils? Anytime I've tried an aromatherapy essential oil (on my skin, paper, etc.) after the initial scent dissipates, I smell an oily smell leftover, which can get rancid too. I never get that in commercial fragrances even with natural ingredients or simple compositions. Is there a specific ingredient that prevents that? How does that work?
Thank you

It could be the proportion, that's why you have to know your top, middle and base notes, 'a muddy fragrance is often the result of a problem with the base notes. Sometimes it is a question of adjusting the ratio of top, middle and base' says the book...

'The ratio of base to middle to top is approximately 40:30:40'

see you got me working extra hours today

Update!

I think it is the quality not the type of oil that is relevant in your case,

from Essence&amp;Alchemy by M. Aftel

&quot;Essential oils are often adulterated, and it is important that the company you purcahse it from warrants their purity.To test the purity of an essential oil, put a drop of it on a piece of white paper. Let it dry at room temperature. if it is pure, the spot will completely evaporate. if the oil is adulterated, a greasy or translucent spot will be left on the paper. Sometimes an old but pure oil will leave a transparent stain around the rim of the spot, which is caused by resin that is formed by the absorption of oxygen and remains dissolved in the oil, but the center should be clear&quot;

Cheers![/quote]

this ratio is actually meaningless, trust me, most fragrances I've crafted have been totally off from that, actualyl the middle notes have had the highest proportion, maybe something like 20 50 30

Re: Perfumer's Organ

Originally Posted by czesc

[quote author=perfectscent link=1144288586/0#8 date=1144328736][quote author=Renaissance Man link=1144288586/0#6 date=1144327357]Hi,
I'm curious too. Are perfumery oils blended differently than aromatherapy essential oils? Anytime I've tried an aromatherapy essential oil (on my skin, paper, etc.) after the initial scent dissipates, I smell an oily smell leftover, which can get rancid too. I never get that in commercial fragrances even with natural ingredients or simple compositions. Is there a specific ingredient that prevents that? How does that work?
Thank you

It could be the proportion, that's why you have to know your top, middle and base notes, 'a muddy fragrance is often the result of a problem with the base notes. Sometimes it is a question of adjusting the ratio of top, middle and base' says the book...

'The ratio of base to middle to top is approximately 40:30:40'

see you got me working extra hours today

Update!

I think it is the quality not the type of oil that is relevant in your case,

from Essence&amp;Alchemy by M. Aftel

&quot;Essential oils are often adulterated, and it is important that the company you purcahse it from warrants their purity.To test the purity of an essential oil, put a drop of it on a piece of white paper. Let it dry at room temperature. if it is pure, the spot will completely evaporate. if the oil is adulterated, a greasy or translucent spot will be left on the paper. Sometimes an old but pure oil will leave a transparent stain around the rim of the spot, which is caused by resin that is formed by the absorption of oxygen and remains dissolved in the oil, but the center should be clear&quot;

Cheers![/quote]

this ratio is actually meaningless, trust me, most fragrances I've crafted have been totally off from that, actualyl the middle notes have had the highest proportion, maybe something like 20 50 30 but even thats not going to help you, perfumery is VERY complicated, different oils have much different properties as far as duration and strength[/quote]

Re: Perfumer's Organ

Because essential oils and other aroma chemicals vary so much in their relative strength and diffusiveness, pretty much any &quot;recommended&quot; ratio of base:middle:top notes is pretty much bunk, or at best, a crude guideline for the totally clueless.

Re: Perfumer's Organ

Oh, and to answer the earlier question...

I wouldn't think you should smell any kind of &quot;rancid&quot; oily leftover from a diluted essential oil sold for aromatherapy.. but then again, oils do go rancid after a while, and if the aromatherapy products you're smelling are pretty old, this could be the case. (Jojoba and fractionated coconut are the longest-lasting oils typically used, and said to be nearly unspoilable.. but they could have used anything.)

Pure essential oils aren't really &quot;oils&quot; as most people would think of them; they're a lot more like alcohol. They don't go rancid quite the same way food oils do, but they can undergo chemical changes with exposure to heat, light, oxygen, etc. which in some cases will ruin them. (Some EOs are said to improve with age.. sandalwood and patchouli are two examples.)

Re: Perfumer's Organ

Originally Posted by [ch257

[ch273]rïà[ch331]][quote author=foetidus link=1144288586/0#1 date=1144298814]Essential oils are so strong that often times they distort the scent. *It could possibly be a better idea to get some single note scents such as at Perfume Raffy for $1.00 per sample:

are these really single notes or Raffy's interpretation of each note?[/quote]

This is kind of a difficult question to answer because

1. What is a &quot;real&quot; scent? Is the smell of the blaze rose or the wild rose or the hybred tea rose the &quot;real&quot; one?--they all smell different. I don't know which one is the real one but they all convey a sense of &quot;roseness&quot;--which is exactly what I desired. With essential oils, which is the &quot;real&quot; and which is the interpretation: the ratio of 40:30:40 or the ratio of 20:50:30?

2. Most of the notes and accords we deal with in fragrance are artificial so I guess that makes almost everything the perfumers do, an interpretation.

3. I mostly ordered the notes of the ones I DIDN'T know to give me an idea of what they smelled like. So I have nothing to compare them to as to whether they smell real, I simply understood they they, like eveything else in perfumery are interpretations.

I've tried these single note samples and they have really helped me to identify notes that I had little or no acquaintence with, for instance Frangipani and Freesia and Plumeria. I also ordered the musk and amber and to help me better discriminate those scents which are very often compounded. It cost me about 18 dollars and all I had to do when I got them was open the vial and sniff--which, as the rest of this thread shows, is not the case for essential oils. And, yes, I have found these extremely helpful.

Re: Perfumer's Organ

I came across a company online that seems to have a wide selection, and a lot of information about origin and rectification of each medium. It's at www.Essential7.com. I must tell you, though, I never ordered anything from them, so I can't vouch for them, personally.

Yr good bud,

JaimeB

"Why spend life seeking that which does not satisfy? Why remain a slave, when freedom waits? Let your life shine; illumine the world with your truth!"